Poem without words

I think I was having a bit of a John Cage moment when I wrote this!It is about human life; from birth to death.Three sections of life infancy youth old age.

Light Filtering Through

                                                Light Filtering Through

Light filtering

Through

Autumn sky and leaves

Through

Cobwebby rain stained windows

Is still

Light

The voice of a friend

Through

The rattle of the market

Through

The haggling of strangers

The voice

Made   sweeter

God’s   breath

Through

You with all your......

Through

You

God’s breath  smelling of you

Is still God’s breath

                                                          Wilf 12/2014

Swan in Moonlight

Birthed of the roaring golden womb,
Alighting on the moon's cool seas
And a swift silent leap to pour
Upon the river close to me.

The swan swam and looked to know
The pearl white light in which she moved and ruled
To me she seemed to be that light embodied 
Winged and white,
Leaving flakes to shimmer on the river
As she passed quietly through.

She was a herald, a mystic sign.

As I looked upon her I saw another river:
All of life cold and dark
With friendship, light embodied,  Swimming through
Defiant.                                                    Wilf 09/2014

Memories

In the stillness of the nursery
Magic midnight hold her breath and smiles 
As cupboard doors creak,
Out tumbles a hoard of little soldiers
Small toys but jumping,twitching grinning silly
Mischief's life dances in the tin and wood and lead.

Peevish prods and pinches
Round and round they wheel
Twisting what is real,"We played this game with you remember,remember how it feels?"
Midnight's magic never ends
Nor do the dancers stop to catch their breath,
Until juice from a darker hour's fruit
Drips upon the spell
And all is well.
The tired soul can breath, healed
And sinking to sleep will rise tomorrow 
As a conqueror.
                                                Wilf 1991

The North sea as a type of God-Two views

Flamborough Head stands proud
Cliffs that defy the Almighty
Cold clean unscalable hardness,
He is unconquered
and mocks the fling and hurl
Of wave worn wave borne rocks.
Defiant.His horn held high
Warning the ships of the sea,
"Do not venture close,my bones lie hidden 
Beneath the waves and I will scrape out your heart".

Barmston beach by contrast is demure and yielding
Her sandy gravel cliffs, low and homely
Present a shy freckled face to the sea.
Shy,yet brave to face onslaughts 
And be dragged away.
Everything built here will fall
The very land be lapped and lashed away,
But I would rather be like her.

Though everything topple,make Your inroads Lord
Let me be as a bay,tear me down,
Wrap me round with ocean and let Your waves
Bring ships to harbour in me.
                                              Wilf1996

The mad and the Wild

The mad mane
Lashing and thrashing
With a million briney whips
Pounding and grinding with foaming fists
Wild white water tearing down the ramparts and cliffs,
        Oh God the sea is like a pool
        Compared to You
        I look upon Your waves with dread
        But if they break upon my soul
        Let me be quickly sped
        To the shoals
        Sheltered in Your heart's sea bed.

Wild wild wind
Who can tame Your breathless pace
Or match Your madcap motion's race?  
A devastating dance of strange and dangerous grace,

My God the storm is like a summer breeze
Compared to You,
Who is not felled before Your blast?
But let me be a tiny seed
Borne upon Your breath and blown at last
To grow amidst the meadows of Your forest.

                                                           Wilf 1996 

Night Sigh

My head was very busy,so I went to sit,
To sink down,commune with peace,with God,
About His silent slow affairs.
Looking at the sky,mute and still,then
A moving point of light
Which though it was a machine fitted well
Flying at its funny angle before the assembled stars
But then a clumsy flashing box of tricks came
Chuddering and clicking, clacking and whirring
Then another then a third,the sky is busy tonight,
Just like me.
But the  still silent stars are busier
Their insides are doing things that would make 
Even Mr.Einstein's head cheerfully go pop.
I wonder what a star sounds like up close?
(I never heard the planes by the way,but with all the lights
colour and funny shapes it was easy to imagine)

A busy sky
Stars serene bright powerful
Effortless effervescence
Light's splashing dash all the way to me.

I'm busy,
Silly cares and worries
Snares and hurries
Flying in a flurry
Against the ground of God's immensity
For somehow down inside is 
The Father of light,Sire of stars and sky
Whom no space can accommodate,
Smilingly patient with me as, with my mind's meccano
I make a ladder up to God?
A ship to sail the stars?
(Maybe in time we'll stretch out to one or two,but  
 why bother when the prophet said that one day late they'd fall out of heaven anyway)
And God comes to those who wait.

The sky is now clear of the clickers and clackers
And my toy cares are flung away 
So I can begin life's proper business, 
Hopelooking
                 Faithwaiting
                                  Lovegreeting 
                                                    The God who comes

                                                          Wilf 1996